Japanese patriotism ‘made in China’?

A A rather bizarre development: the national association of Shinto shrines has sponsored the production of posters that effectively translate as ‘I’m glad I am Japanese/was born Japanese’ with a picture of a young woman. Yet it turns out that the woman featured is Chinese and that the image was available for use on Getty Images‘ commercial photobank, upon payment of a license fee. The BBC has a print story on it. The posters started appearing around Kyoto, without attribution, and attracted some criticism for nationalism. The Shinto association has defended the posters, saying that the objective is to encourage the flying of the national flag.